Voters Decide Future Of Lw Utilities Authority

LAKE WORTH — Voters get a chance Tuesday to abolish the city`s biggest political football -- the Lake Worth Utilities Authority.

Voters punch ``yes`` to abolish the authority or ``no`` to retain it.

What city commissioners do with the results remains up in the subject of a dispute.

City commissioners Andy Andrews and Ron Exline and City Commissioner-elect Ed Shepherd said they want to create a new authority, but in order to do that, the old one first must be abolished.

Precinct 3 City Commission candidate George Harrs said he agrees with that. ``If the people want to abolish the authority, that doesn`t necessarily mean they want the City Commission to run it (the utilities).

``The people I`ve talked to have mixed feelings. They don`t want the City Commission running it, but they don`t want an authority that tells the city to go jump in the lake.``

But Mayor-elect David Hinsa said the only way to create a new authority is to modify the old one, which can be done only if voters want to keep the old authority.

A majority vote to abolish the authority will mean voters want the City Commission, not a newly created utiltities board, to run the utilities, said Hinsa and Kenneth Moye, a City Commission candidate in the Precinct 3 runoff.

Moye said that he does not think the City Commission should continue to tinker with the authority if the majority vote to keep it.

``I`ll go along with the people,`` he said.

City Attorney James Adams said this is a policy decision to be left to the commissioners. ``I`m not going to tell them how to interpret the results.``

Authority Vice Chairman Sam Reynolds Jr. urged voters last week to retain the authority. He said the city`s utilities should not be managed by ``tax-and- spend politicians.``

Lake Worth voters created the authority in a 1969 referendum. Composed of five members appointed by the City Commission, the authority had sole approval of its budget, spending and rate-setting.

The intent was to remove from politics the often costly and unpopular decisions affecting upkeep of the water, sewer and electric systems. Previously, the City Commission held those duties.

Critics of the previous arrangement said the utilities system declined because the city used utilities revenues for non-utilities purposes instead of equipment maintenance.

Until 1979, the arrangement with the authority worked smoothly.

But, during the last six years, the relationship between the authority members and city commissioners grew increasingly antagonistic.

Some city commissioners said the authority was paying too much to its top staff people. They were angered by authority plans to build a new office building and accused the authority of cavalier spending in many instances.

The long-standing feud came to a head last May, when the City Commission abolished the authority, on the advice of Adams.

The authority launched a legal effort to resurrect itself and won before the Florida Supreme Court. But the ruling cannot become law until the justices issue a mandate after the rehearing process is completed.

Regardless of what happpens in the referendum, Adams said, he will continue to pursue the Supreme Court case. If the justices grant a rehearing, Adams said he will go through with it because he cannot decline their announcement of a rehearing.

The case could make law that many other Florida municipalities will have to live with, Adams said.